When Wang Kefan saw Jiao Lian, he didn't have too many polite greetings, and after simply asking a few words about the situation of the troops, he assigned him a combat mission, and two days later took over the defense of the 177 Heights and its affiliated positions, and held it for two days and one night as much as possible.

Jiao Lian traveled thousands of miles from Guangxi to participate in the Battle of Nanjing, and the assembly area demarcated for the Yangshuo soldiers was very close to the front line, which made him mentally prepared to join the war soon, but going directly to the battlefield just two days later still made him feel too hasty.

"Our Guangxi soldiers are definitely not ambiguous about killing the Tartars, but how to fight this battle has not yet touched the doorway, if the last general can't hold that, the 177 Heights, he will naturally cut off his head to apologize to the military gate, but I am afraid that after the big incident of delaying the military gate, although the last general will commit suicide, he will not be redeemed."

After a long march, you need to rest and recuperate, the Guangxi soldiers are not familiar with the terrain and climate here, and even the baggage troops have not yet arrived in time, these are not too big problems, the key is that our Guangxi soldiers will not fight this kind of battle, it is completely to catch ducks on the shelf!

Jiao Lian had a glance at the front line, and had already seen that this kind of position battle in the mountains was a brand-new way of warfare, from weapons and equipment to specific tactics, from communication to coordinated command, and many other related issues, all of which were completely different from the battles he had experienced before.

"It's okay, this battle is for you to practice your hands. 177 Heights can abide by the rules, and it doesn't matter the overall situation if you really lose it, you don't have to commit suicide to apologize, and no one will blame you. Wang Kefan stretched out his hand and swiped on the map. "We've been on the front line for three days, and it's time to take two steps back," he said. Zilharang's fist hit it here, though. But the ass is still sitting in Danyang County, if we keep resisting the Qing army. He may slip back to Danyang County at any time, and it will be difficult to bring him in again. If you want to fish, you have to feed a bait, give Zilharang a sweetness, let him feel that there is still hope to rescue Mulima and Jumala, so that he can obediently drill into the hinterland of Ningzhen Mountain, and then collect the net when he arrives at Maoshan! ”

Maoshan is the main vein in the southeast of Ningzhen Mountain, with nine peaks and eighteen gangs, with a total area of more than 50 square kilometers. It is the famous anti-Japanese base of the New Fourth Army, the main peak Damao Peak is 372 meters above sea level, the peaks of Ermao Peak and Sanmao Peak are meandering together, high and low, and they are the "peaks" of the top row in the mountains of Ningzhen. The terrain of the Maoshan area is more dangerous, more easy to defend and difficult to attack, deep into the hinterland of the Ningzhen Mountains, farther away from Danyang County, and only a mountain away from Yanling Town.

"That being the case. I'll act as bait for this, and even if I swallow it in one gulp, I'll have to break a few of his teeth! Jiao Lian heard that there was no need to stick to the 177 Heights, and the heavy feeling of pressure disappeared immediately. Since you can retreat at any time, you should try to hold on for as long as possible, and you must not lose your position as soon as you go up. Let others look down on the Guangxi soldiers.

"Brother Ruiting is right, although he wants to let Zilharang in. But it can't be too easy for him, and he will consume his strength and sharpness by blocking the attack. Wang Kefan said with a smile: "My trick is to drive the sheep into the pen." When the fat sheep has exhausted all his strength and tossed enough in the sheepfold, let's close the door and beat the dogs......"

Because of the cultural history and natural environment, the Guangxi soldiers are more capable of fighting, the Ming Dynasty has the famous Guangxi wolf soldiers, and the later generations of the Gui family are also considered to be a strong army, compared with them, Jiao Lian's Yangshuo soldiers are still a little worse.

The reason is very simple, Guangxi was quite peaceful in the chaotic times at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Jiao Lian's Yangshuo soldiers did not fight big battles and evil battles, the most fierce battle was in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong's troops killed Tang Miaozi into Guangxi, Jiao Lian defeated him, captured Tang Miaozi alive and then surrendered...... After that, Jiao Lian's department almost never went to the battlefield, at most which Zhuang Tusi was not honest before sending troops to fight, but the strength of the general Tusi was limited, and after encountering Jiao Lian's regular army, they were all defeated at the touch of a button, and the Yangshuo soldiers always won very easily.

was suddenly transferred to the front line in Nanjing, but the Yangshuo soldiers felt unprecedented pressure.

When he set out from Guangxi, Jiao Lian did not announce to the ordinary officers and soldiers that he was about to join the war, and the Yangshuo soldiers went all the way, thinking that they were only serving as a baggage force like the previous times, in addition to escorting grain and grass, it was an additional task to protect Zhu Yulu, the king of the Tang Dynasty. Unexpectedly, after passing the Moling Pass, the troops were pulled directly to the front line and began to make pre-battle preparations, and the mood of the officers and soldiers immediately became very nervous, and they almost had a feeling of suffocation. Hearing the sound of guns and fighting not far away, the Yangshuo soldiers looked gloomy one by one, and some timid recruits trembled slightly, and kept shedding tears.

At dawn the next morning, Jiao Lian gathered his troops and personally lectured 5,000 officers and soldiers.

"Brothers, our army is about to go to the battlefield to fight to the death against the Tartars, and the time has come for you to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions! It's time to serve the emperor! As long as you move forward bravely, you will definitely be rewarded after this battle! ”

Like the roar of a giant cannon, the Yangshuo soldiers only understood the true intention of going to Nanjing this time, and almost instantly, a cry immediately sounded in the field.

"Mother, the child is not filial!" A recruit fell to his knees and cried in the direction of Guangxi, his cry infected all the soldiers, the atmosphere was extremely depressing and desolate, and thousands of Yangshuo soldiers stood as if they had been struck by lightning, unable to speak for a long time.

Jiao Lian stepped off the stage, walked closer and picked up the recruit with his own hands, and then raised his head and said kindly to the army: "Brothers, let go of crying, cry enough now, and there will be less blood when you fight!" ”

With the encouragement of the commander, the younger recruits hugged their heads and cried to their heart's content, and the recruits from one village and one township all gathered together and told each other that if I died, the people who were still alive must help me go to see my father and mother...... Good iron does not nail, good men do not serve as soldiers, many recruits regret coming to be soldiers to eat food, if they can escape, more than half of the recruits will not hesitate to desert.

At lunchtime, many recruits didn't eat a bite, one by one drooped their heads like frosted eggplants, their eyes were full of tears, although the veterans were quite calm, but their feelings were not high, and the entire Yangshuo military camp was like the July Half Halloween Festival, full of mournful cries.

After dinner, the officers and men received a notice that the clerk in the battalion would write a letter home for each of them. At this time, all the people who should cry have cried enough, and the troubles that should be made are over, and most of the recruits are forced to accept the reality, and their feelings have improved, and they have rushed to find the paperwork, dictating it with emotion, staring at the paperwork to write letters to their parents and relatives.

On the morning of the next day, the whole army gathered again and held a flag sacrifice oath meeting, Tang Laihe and other high-ranking officials attended the ceremony, slaughtered and sacrificed, and Jiao Lian lectured again, encouraging the Yangshuo soldiers to fight bravely to kill the enemy.

"Kill all the Tartars! Fight to the death! Jiao Lian raised his saber and shouted loudly!

"Kill all the Tartars! Fight to the death! Five thousand Yangshuo soldiers shouted together, and their voices were sonorous and powerful.

By this time, the veterans and recruits knew that their fate could not be changed, and their mood tended to be calm. Left and right are one death, instead of being a bad seed, it is better to kill a few more Tartars desperately, kill one is enough, kill two to earn one!

At the end of the meeting, the commander of the army issued three days' rations, and asked everyone to fill the water hyacinth with them, the armor was distributed to the soldiers, each archer was given a hundred arrows, the blacksmiths of the army sharpened their swords, guns and weapons, and several franc cannons were carried out of the carts for careful inspection...... When the soldiers were all draped and armed with sharp knives and guns, they added a bit of courage and guts.

At lunchtime, Wang Kefan personally came to toast the officers and soldiers of Yangshuo who were about to go on the expedition, and the atmosphere became passionate and solemn again. With the liquor in their stomachs, the young recruits are full of blood and want to step on the battlefield immediately and kill all the Tartars!

Wang Kefan drank Zhuangxing wine and wrote a poem on the spot.

"I don't hesitate to buy a treasure knife, and I can also exchange my mink fur for wine, and I cherish it with enthusiasm, and I can still turn Bitao when I sprinkle it."

……

In addition to encouraging the morale of officers and soldiers, Jiao Lian still had too much preparation work to do, and he was very busy in the past two days.

How to fight this battle, he has no idea in his heart.

To his surprise, after Wang Kefan gave the order, he quickly sent a complete set of staff officers to assist him in making pre-war preparations.

Explaining military intelligence and tactics, providing intelligence and information, the Chu army even took the knife on its behalf and sent a communication team to be responsible for the liaison and command of Jiao Lian's various departments...... In addition to a few Franc machine guns brought by Jiao Lian himself, the artillery of the Chu army would not withdraw from the next 77 heights, but fought side by side with the Yangshuo soldiers.

"On the 177 Heights and its attached positions, there were originally 850 soldiers of the Gongyi Battalion stationed, and in view of the lack of long-range weapons such as flintlock muskets in your unit, we have proposed to allocate the full strength of the defenders to 1,300 to improve the defense capability as much as possible." After Jingliang proposed to build a war, he deliberately emphasized: "On the artillery position on the top of the mountain, an additional alert force of 100 people must be equipped, and if the Qing army breaks through the cordon, all mortars and artillery must be blown up before retreating." This is very important, General Jiao must arrange effective subordinates to ensure that not a single mortar cannon falls into the hands of the Qing army, otherwise he will be severely investigated by Wang Junmen. ”

It doesn't matter if you lose your position, you can't lose your secret weapon.

"Only 1,300 people went up? Can there be more? Jiao Lian hesitated and said, "I have 5,000 elite soldiers, and only 1,300 people are a bit less." ”

"No more. These heights are limited in size, and 1,300 men are already the maximum capacity, and if the force is forcibly increased, it will cause unnecessary casualties. Jing Liang smiled and said: "General Jiao, please rest assured, 1,300 people are actually a bit much, and if you fight for two more days, you will take the initiative to ask for a reduction in your troops." Good steel needs to be used on the blade, and it is not a good idea to divide the forces evenly to defend, and it is easy to fall into passivity if a position is broken through without enough counterattack ability. (To be continued......)